Advertising device or toy



Feb. 20, 1940.. a. K. MURPHY ADVERTISING DEVICE OR TOY Filed JaIl. so,1939 2 Sheets-Shaet 1 v IN V EN TOR.

Feb. 20, 1940. K MURPHY $99,809

ADVERTISING DEVICE OR TOY Filed Jan. '30, 1959 2 Sheet-$heef 2 IN V ENTOR.

Patented Feb. 20, 1940 UNITEDSTATES PATENT- ADVERTISING DEVICE 0a TOY uHarry K. Murphy, Stanford, Ill. Application January 30, 1939, Serial No.253,680 SQlaims. 11. 46- 131) This invention relates to an advertisingdevice ortoy, and particularly to a balanced or balancing, type ofsupporting device. adaptedforuse. as an advertising device or toy.

One. object ,o-ffithe invention is to provide a device of this characterwhereby one or more articles whichare to be displayed for advertisingpurposes or sale may be displayed in an interesting and attractivemanner. a

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this characterwhich may be employed as a toy of interesting and instructive characterfor the amusement of children and others.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter which may be used, by a manufacture or dealer to displayarticles on sale, and also given away by him as premiums for use as toysto purchasers of the article. I

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter, one or more of I which may be used for advertising purposestosupport articles in various artistic or geometrical ways-or designs fordisplay, or used as instructive toys to support or balance one or morearticles in various positions) sun another object of the invention istoprovide a device of this character which may be used as a figure toy.I

With these and other objects in view, the

invention consists of the features of construction, combination andarrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings,

Figs. 6 and 7 are views showing modified forms of the device.

Fig. 8. is a view showing the application to.

the device of articles to be supported ,for advertising display. r

Fig. 9 is a view illustrating another mode of mounting such articles bytheuse of a plurality of the devices shown balanced upon a supportingstand.

Fig. 10 is a view illustrating another mode of mounting one or more ofthe devices and articles carried thereby upon a supporting stand.

Fig. 11 is a. view showing a mode of supporting a plurality of devicesand articles carried a more or less sharp point.

body member I.

practice, the body member I may be made of fully painted or. not, asdesired. I

.thereby through theme of a supporting bracket mounted on the supportingstand. w i

Fig. 12 is a view showing a capability of balanced mounting of thedevice and articles car suitable size and weight and made of anysuitable material or materials. This stand is pro vided at its top witha stationary supporting tip" or spindle A, preferably of a formt'apering to The stand may. be securedto. the surface on which it restsor may be of sufficient weight to maintain its stability without beingsecured thereto. As a substitute for a special .and more or lessornamentalstand. a bottle of suitablesize and weight with a stout vneedle, wire nail orthe like carried by its stopper to serve as aspindle, may be employed.

The advertising device or toy comprises an elongated generally oblongrectangular shaped One end 2 of' this member, which may. forconvenience, be termed its head end, is imperforate except for atransverse open ing 3 passing therethrough, while the other ema 4 of themember, which may, for convenience, be termed itsfoot end, is bifurcatedor forked by the formationoi a slot 5 therein. This slot extends nearlythe length of the foot half of the member and opens through itsextremity, thus producing parallel legs 5. The end 2 may be shaped togenerally simulate the upper portion v of a human figure, and the end 4may be shaped generally to simulate the lower, portion of a humanfigure, so that the device may be em ployed as a figure toy. For thispurpose the body. member I may be used in a plain form as shown, or itmay be painted to represent a police.

man, firman acrobat or other character. In;

wood, metal or other material, plainly or Carried by the body I is ahangeror suspension member TI. This member maybe formed of wire or thelike and as generally used is U-shaped or bail-shaped, said membercomprising abody or crossportionil having at the ends thereof similaroutwardly diverging arms 9. The cross portion 8 passes through and isjournaled or pivot- 5- ally mounted in the opening 3 or" the body memberI so as to dispose the arms 9 at the opposite .sides of said bodymember. The free ends of the armsterminate in threadedportions Iii orare otherwise formed or constructed for detach 55 able connection witharticles to be attached The portions Ill are also said arms to be swunglongitudinally of the member I to different working or balancing anglesrelative thereto. In general the arms 9 of a member extend in the samedirection fromthe cross portion 8 divergently at equal angles theretoand the arms are of equalllength. For special purposes, however, theconstruction of the suspending device and arrangement of its arms mayberhodifiedr Figs .6: and 7 show-two such modifications. In Fig. 6 thebody member Ia has itssuspending member Ia formedwith arms 9a and 91)extending at oblique angles to its cross portion but beyond oppositesides thereof. In Fig. l the body member II) has itssuspending member'Ib formed with an arm 90 which is arranged at an oblique angle to itscross portion and with an'arm 9b which is longitudinally continuous withits cross portion. These andiother modified'forms of the suspendingmember may be employed to allow different suspending arrangements to bemade, which. may be of different designs or {351 may be attached weightsor weighted objects or geometric r formations;

To the suspending arms of a device I, or'to certain arms of a pluralityofconnected devices I,

articles I-I forbalancing purposes or for balancing anddisplay purposes.The weights used for balancing purposes, in the use of the device as atoy,

may be of any. preferred type adapted for connection with" the threadedends of the suspending arms, or theymaybe articles or objects to beexhited-or displayed for sale. In Figs. 6, 8; 10, 11

and 12 of the drawings isparkplugs are shown as attached to thedevicesto serve the function of balancing weights and Figs. 9, 10, 11.and 12 show some of many ways in which they may be balanced anddisplayed by a dealer for advertising purposes.

Fig. 9 shows one manner of makingan ornamental symmetrical display. Hereone of the devices I disposed vertically. head downward, and

with its suspending member arranged as in Fig.

:5, is shown bearing at its head end on the spindle A of support A. Tothe arms of the suspending member of this device I are coupled, bythreaded couplings I I, the arms 9b of suspending members of a pair ofthe modified devices, which are thus symmetrically suspended at oppositesides of the on spindle A. 'the other arms of devices I a and'act ascountersupport A from the head end of device I resting Spark plugs I Iare attached to balances to balance device I on its pivotal support A.If spark plugs of like size and weight are used the balancing actionwill be so perfect that the chain of .devices I,- Ia may berocked to acertain degree or rotated without displacement. If the body of device Iis made of wood and the point of spindle A is made sufficiently sharp toslightly indent the wood to form a recess for its reception, the chainof devices maybe rocked to a pronounced degree and rotated withoutliability of displacement. The support of spark plugs in thismanner'will cause attraction and create interest and thus give greatadvertising value to the display.

Fig. 10 shows a. manner in which a single or plural number ofunconnected devices I and spark plugs carried thereby may be supportedin a balanced manner from the support. Here four devices-Iand-theispark-plugs carried thereby are arranged in balanced relation toeach other and to the support. In so arranging them the bottom device Iis disposed horizontally with the suspending arms 9 bent downwardly, thelower face of member I of said device brought to rest .at a proper.point on the spindle A and the arms 9 carrying the spark plugs IIadjusted to abalancing postion. In this operation the arms 9 are swungto a point in rear of-their pivotal attachment such that the weight ofthe spark plugs atpneside ofthe .pivot will'balance the weight of thepart of the member I, andany weightresting thereon, .on the oppositesideofthe pivot. The other devices I are then successively placed inposition, in'superposed and lapping orderand their suspending'devicesand'spark plugs adjusted to maintain a balancing of the stackof displaydevices. This also provides an attractive. and=interest creating way ofdisplaying'the spark plugs and'giving advertising value;

Fig; 171;. shows the use of. a substantially shaped bracket I2 inbalancing'relation with a number: of'devices I for/supporting aplurality. of pairs of spark plugs. This bracket I2 comprises two rodsI3 and I 4' arranged at right angles to each other and united: to. eachother at' a central point ofcrossing" I5. Themain or intermediateportions of these rods are in the form of an inverted U and frombases ofthese U-portions I6 the free ends or arms II of the rods extendrradiallyoutward, in. ahorizontal plane.- Four such'ends or arms I! arethus-providedwhich are arranged'at angles of 90 apart. On each of thesearms I! is supported a device-I to the suspendingrnember of each-ofwhich are attached two sparkplugsl These devices I; are mountedvertically with'their slotted ends straddling the arms I! and thesuspending devicesand spark plugsadjustedto liein the same verticalplane as'the body members so thatthe. sets of.

spark plugs on oppositearms I! will balance each other. At the crossingpoint I5 the bracket I2 is suitably formed or constructed to rest on thepointed spindle. This entire organization will thus be so balanced thatit may. be rotated or rocked.

to a considerable degree without displacement from the spindle. v

Fig. 12' shows that in the horizontal arrangement of the deviceits'point of support onthe spindle A may be varied as desiredwhile-maintaining it in balance. This" is allowed through adjustment ofthe weighted suspension member backward or forward, accordingto thepoint of support, in order to maintain a state of balance. Fig. 12 showsthe position to which the suspension member is adjusted to maintain astateof bal ance when the body I is engaged at the tip of its headportion 2 with the spindle A. With the arrangement shown in-Fi'g. 10 theadjustment of the several suspension members will be such as to maintaina'state of balance of'thestack of devices.

It is to be understood that the body members I may be made ofwood ormetal, andpainted or otherwise provided with a protective or decorativecoating or not, as desired. They may be made in suitable shapes otherthan that shown and each may bepainted in a single color or a variety ofcolors. The general form of device shown is that of a manikin havingadjustable arms, and in the use of this general form the bodies Imay bepainted or costumed to represent soldiers, sailors, policemen, oracro'bats for attractive display effects and to more effectively adaptthe individual devices for use as childrens toys. The, devices mayalsobe made in diiferent sizesand different lengths of bodies and the armsof the suspension devices may be varied in length and relative positionsto support diiierent weights of articles and to adapt the devices to bearranged in difierent ways or to be assembled to form different displaydesigns for advertising and general display purposes. If the body I ismade of wood and the spindle point of suitable sharpnessto slightlypenetrate the wood liabilityhof slippage of the body out of engagementwiththe spindle, will be avoided even when the body is enameled orcovered with a smooth coat of paint.

If the body is made of hard metal pivoting spindle receiving recessesmaybe formed therein at suitable points to secure a non-slipping engagement.

As stated, the device maybe used for an artistic or pleasing andinteresting display of spark plugs or other like articles to bedisplayed for advertising purposes or immediate sale. Any kind ofarticles may be so displayed which are capable of being applied to thesuspending arms and utiform of r a bottle having a spindle A embedded inand projecting upward from its stopper or from a cap or the like fittedon the stopper or neckof the bottle, allowing in this manner a simpleand readily obtainable form of support to be provided or two kinds ofarticles to be displayed for advertising purposes at the same time. Theinvention provides an effective means for advertising and promoting thesales of spark plugs and various other articles by utilizing the devicesas goods display devices and also aspremiums to be given to purchasersof the articles. For instance, with each spark plug sold the dealermaygive'the purchaser one or more of the devices bearing thereonsuitable advertising matter,

to be used by the purchaser or given by him to children for use asadvertising toys. The devices away a support, which he may advertise todo with a number of balancing devices in the event that the purchaserbuys a number of spark plugs at'a time, the purchaser or user mayreadily contrive a bottle form of support in the manner suggested bysimply inserting a stout needle or wire nail torserve as a spindle in acork stopperof a size to snugly fit the bottle neck. As the balancingdevices may be furnished to a manufacturer or dealer at low cost, theinvention provides an economical way of both advertising goods byattractive. display and promoting sales by the giving away of premiumsof an interesting type.

, It is to be understood that while the structures shown herein arepreferred, they are disclosed merely as exemplifications, and thatchanges in i the, form, construction and arrangement of the parts may bemade within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from thespirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention. n i

What I claim is: i

l. A device of the character described corn- 5 prising an elongatedbodyImember adapted to be pivotally rested at one end on an underlyingsupport and having its opposite end forked, and a bail-shaped suspendingmember having its cross portion extending transversely of and axiallyrotatable in the body member at a point adjacent to the first-named endof said body member and having its arms fixed with. relation to itscro'ss portion and projecting beyond opposite sides of the body memberat an angle thereto, of said arms being threaded and load weightsthreaded for detachable coupling connection with the threaded ends ofthe arms. M 2. In a toy, an elongated figureformed at its head end torest pivotally on a support and provided adjacent to said end with abore extending from side to side thereof, a rod-like suspending memberhaving a central portion and arms rigid therewith, said central portionof the suspending member extending through and being rotatable in thebore and said arms extending on opposite sides of the figure at an anglethereto, and an individual weight attached to the free end of each arm.

3. In a toy, a supporting standard having an upper supporting endportion, an elongated figure having a transverse bore and formed at itshead end to pivotally engage the supporting end portion of the standard,a rod-like suspending mem ber having a central portion and. arms rigidtherewith, said central portion of the suspending member extendingthrough and being rotatable in said bore and said arms being rigid withsaid central portion and extending beyond opposite sides of the figureat an angle thereto, the arin a horizontal position on the standard, andbalancing Weights individually mounted on the respectivearms andadjustable by adjustment of said member to perform said balancingfunctions.

head end to rest pivotally on a support and provided adjacent to saidend with a bore extending from side to side thereof, the opposite end ofsaid figure being longitudinally forked, a rod-like suspending memberhaving a central portion and arms rigid therewith, said central portionof the suspendingmember extending through and being rotatable in thebore and said arms extending on oppositesides of the figure at ananglethereto, and an individual Weight attached to the free en of eacharm.

5. In a toy, an elongated figure having a headed end and a foot end, theformer having a trans verse bore and the latter having a longitudinalslot extending therethrough, and arod-like member having a centralportion extending. through and journaled in said bore and arms rigidwith 4. In a toy, an elongated figure formed at its

